ACTS 14:8-18: Paying Homage to Church Leaders
by Kristen West McGuire
8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting, who could not use his feet; he was a cripple from birth, who had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul speaking; and Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, 10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and walked. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, because he was the chief speaker, they called Hermes.
13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the people. 14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out among the multitude, crying, 15 “Men, why are you doing this? We also are men, of like nature with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways; 17 yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 With these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.1
Context: Paul was well-educated for a Jewish man and Roman citizen. While he understood the pagan errors of these Greek onlookers, he couldn’t let them offer sacrifices to him, pretending he was Hermes, or Barnabas was Zeus! Tearing their garments was a very evocative sign, reminiscent of the high priest in the Jewish temple, rending his garments in the face of sacrilege. Authorities were nearby checking out these apostles of the Crucified One, who claimed that he was God. Some Jews wanted to distance themselves from the new Jewish-Christians, who, by this time, were incurring their own unwelcome attentions from Rome.
Translation: Classically educated listeners would have recognized in this story the myth of Zeus and Hermes visiting a pious couple near Lystra, from Ovid’s Metamorphoses. Because the locals are speaking in the Lycaonian dialect, Paul and Barnabas are unaware of the developing problem until the high priest of Zeus shows up in his glad rags, ready to bow down to the “gods!” Paul appeals to their philosophical awareness of good, especially natural goods, to defuse the situation.
Vocabulary:
Zeus: The king of the gods, also known in Roman parlance as Jupiter.
Hermes: understood to be the spokesman for the gods, also known as Mercurius.
tore their garments: the Greek diarrhesso is only found in the New Testament in relationship to the high priest “rending” his garments in pain at sacrilege.
of like nature: The King James version reads, “of like passions with you,” because the underlying Greek homoiopathos implies a mortal subjectivity, not divine detachment.
Meditation:
How do we interact with the princes of the church? In the recent past, the bishops have surely had their comeuppance. Once, Catholics literally bowed and kissed their bishops’ rings in deep devotion. Today’s bishops reportedly prefer a more casual approach to all interactions.
Not unlike the pagans, we seem to make gods of men whom we see doing great miracles. And if the bishops aren’t exactly miracle workers, well, we’ll keep our oxen and garlands to ourselves, thanks.
Paul understands the dynamic. Just like these Zeus worshippers, we all need to remember that the apostles and their successors are “subject” to passions, just as we are. The power is there, but power shifts, relative to context. It’s no basis for eternity.
The bishop’s exalted state is precisely derived from eternity! God directs him to proclaim the good news, that Christ died to set us free from our passions, free to love with the deepest and most abiding security. What we can’t see, and what the Lyconians did see, was plain in the miracle before their eyes. Miracles do still happen. The challenge is to see them.
Discussion Questions
- What is the proper way to show respect when one meets a bishop? Is it possible to overdo it? Do we show disrespect for the church if we underdo it?
- A bishop who leads based on “eternal” issues often endures “bad press.” Is it anti-Catholicism? Or just criticism?
- Our popular pagan deities today are not Zeus and Hermes, but Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. How do you counter their influence in your home? School? Parish?
